Social. About forty workers gathered in front of the Saint-Dizier theater on Saturday March 25 to face the Ferro company’s proposed job cuts. The aim is to film a music video that will be broadcast on social networks to pitch Vibrantz parent company.
On Saturday, March 25, bass voices rang out in front of the Bragaard Theatre. About forty Ferro employees, led by attorney Ralph Flintover, chose the setting for a music video denouncing the company’s 48 layoffs announced on guitar.
Perfectly coordinated, the choir sang the protest song “We will not be moved” (“We will not move”, in the French version). English mixed with French in a score expertly conducted by the lawyer. “I started listening to this piece about fifty years ago, when the Irish were on strike,” recalls the father of a Ferro employee who witnessed the scene. “I came from Metz to see my daughter and support her movement, which is normal,” he says with a smile on his face.
Workers unite
All the singers are laughing. They know that the situation is very serious, but want to give themselves to exercise. “This is a first for us, but it allows us to know what lawyers and experts say. With this clip we create a link with the German trade unions. Unity is strength! Says Amelie Auguste, who has worked for the company for 11 years.
“This song has beautiful lyrics. Some have been there for 20, 30 or even 35 years, jobs are being cut overnight, and people are being transferred… It’s questionable that colleagues who know the jobs are piling up and find themselves on the street. Saint-Dizier is not the biggest”, scolds Fabrice Piper, CFDT employee representative since 2004.
“That’s how we win”
Some corrections were required. “We’re no Red Army Choir, but we still need some punch!” “, sings Ralph Flintover. Some wise advice from the director, a lawyer friend of twenty years, allows the choir to arrange the finale after several rehearsals.
Now on the box, the clip will quickly spread widely on social networks, which the assembly believes will reach the ears of Vibrantz, the American company that owns Ferro. “There was a good mobilization of the staff. Although there was a little reluctance to sing at the beginning, they gave their hands to the game”, satisfied Master Flintover. Adding: “This is how we win, at least in court. »
Dorian Lahore
d.lacour@jhm.fr
Other upcoming activities
Apart from this clip, other activities will be carried out in the coming days. Saturday 1R In April, the delegation will travel to Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises. A chance to discover a site some employees may not have seen in the past. But the journey has above all a symbolic side, a spirit of protest and defense of the country’s industrial independence, marching to the grave, and placing a placard signed “Workers de Ferro.” to the general.
Five days later, at the Ciné-Quai, Stéphane Brizé’s film “En guerre” will be shown. The story deals with a profitable company, but threatened by a layoff plan – a direct parallel to Ferro. A momentary discussion will take place in the presence of Olivier Corse, the screenwriter, but also Olivier Lemaire, the actor and expert working on the Ferro file.
Other ideas are in the pipeline, such as a support concert. Online Support Kitty”Ferro Solidarity“, available at leetchi.com, is still open.
